Zermatt, a popular ski resort on the border between Switzerland and Italy. Photo: Bernd Weißbrod / DPA / Profimedia
The bodies of five skiers were found on Saturday in the Rimpischhorn Massif, near the Zermatt ski resort in Switzerland, the Valais Canton Police announced in a statement published on Sunday, France Presse and Agerpres reports.
The official identification of the victims, who were on the Adler glacier, is still underway, the police said.
Two skiers climbing Rimpfishhorn gave the alarm on Saturday, around 4:30 pm (14:30 GMT). They had noticed the presence of skis at the foot of the peak, but “without meeting their owners on the route,” the press release said.
Five people's inanimate bodies were rapidly discovered after an Air Zermatt helicopter overcame the area, the police added, without giving details about the circumstances that led to the death of the five skiers, nor about their sex or age.
“The parquet has opened an investigation to establish the exact circumstances of this incident,” the police said.
Police spokesman Kathleen Pralong-Cornaille told AFP that the identification data and details on the circumstances of the five skiers will be available in the coming days.
Air Zermatt, a company that organizes local flights for tourists and also offers an emergency intervention service, said that “about 500 meters lower” by the ski depot, the helicopter crew “discovered three climbers on an avalanche cone”, but the emergency doctor could only find out.
“While the crew continued to research on the rocky face above, they discovered two more people on a small portion of snow at about 200 meters above,” Air Zermatt said, adding that the two skiers were already dead when the crew arrived.
In March 2024, six shifts (ski climbing or Skimo no) died in a violent snowstorm near Zermatt. The group, between the ages of 21 and 58, included five members of the same family, reminds AFP.
